Visually impressive, it still reminds me of THE MUPPET MOVIE and all its shortcomings!

Rating: 7/10 (13 July 2006)

Ha--I thought the summary would get your attention!!! Let me explain why I said that the film reminds me of the Muppet Movie. Both films have tremendous production values and are very well made BUT both suffered from a massive overdose of "celebrity walk-on fever"--this insane notion that the film should be spiced up with celebrity cameos. And, unfortunately, the opposite usually occurred--the whole tempo of the film was disrupted and too much money and time was spent following these stars in their brief roles. Apparently, THE LONGEST DAY originated this idea--which came into its own on the many Irwin Allen movies (particularly THE TOWERING INFERNO)--one #@^#&#!&^$!! celebrity after another parading across the screen at the expense of the plot.
And this is really a shame, as at heart, THE LONGEST DAY is a very, very good film. Its production values illustrate how this was a real labor of love for producer and studio head Darryl F. Zanuck. I really think that without all the "guest shots" and a little more focus on the action instead of bouncing about so much, the film would have gotten a score of 9.